My direct line of Chapins in this generation are quite frustrating to track. This generation seems to be the most nomadic of the bunch, and Essie was no exception. I imagine she, as did her siblings, got their wanderlust from their father, who moved their family from New York westward between the 1880 federal census and the 1885 Kansas State Census.

She was born in Olean, Cattaraugus County, New York, in August 1870, and was the ninth of ten children born to Nathaniel Foster Chapin and Elizabeth Harris.

Apparently, Essie's first marriage to Joseph Shepherd occurred in 1889 in Kansas (if anyone knows of a way to get a definitive marriage date other than me traveling to Kansas to do so, please let me know). They had a daughter, Broshia S Shepherd (born 27 Jan 1890), and then Joseph died.

With the help of another Chapin descendant from this line, I was able to puzzle through the birth and actual surname of Essie's second child, Elbert Carr, as well as get some further information on her second, third and fourth marriages to Elbert C Carr, Joseph H Lebolt and Daniel J Finn, respectively. According to that cousin:

Essie Chapin married Elbert Carr in Oregon, because she was pregnant with his son, Elbert. Broshia was her child by Joseph Shephard. Thus, Elbert was named after his father and Broshia and Elbert were half brother and sister. I don't know what happened to Elbert Carr, but Essie did marry LeBolt - his family were jewelers and silversmiths in the Chicago area. Essie and Dan Finn were married later. Ward Finn was not Essie's natural child, he was adopted by her. They moved to Altoona, Pa. because Essie’s family (the Chapins) were carpenters and owned lumber mills. As the Pennsylvania Railroad expanded, the Chapins had contracts to mill lumber for railroad ties. Altoona, Pa was (a "boom town" at one time) one of the fastest growing cities in the USA in the late 1800's because of the Pennsylvania Railroad expansion. Of course, Altoona became a repressed city when the railroads failed. The Chapins moved around a great deal because they followed the railroad business.

After the birth of Elbert, Jr., Essie moved back to Bourbon Co., KS for a while - she was there for the 1895 Kansas State Census, and the 1900 Federal Census. By 1910, she had relocated with her children to Altoona, PA., where she lived out the remainder of her life.

Oddly, when she died on 14 Dec 1948, she was buried as Essie Lebolt Finn.